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ANTHONY STASTNY: Clippers owner shows true colors

The NBA came down hard on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling last week.

Or as hard as you can smack down a guy with two billion dollars in the bank but shortchanged in the personal values ledger.

Sterling, who had a reputation that was anything but, said the wrong thing at the wrong time — when someone was listening and when that someone had a tape recorder.

The world was aghast. Or, that part of the world that hadn’t been sleeping for the past 50 years. The surprise was not what Sterling said, but that people were surprised at what he said.

He never pretended to be nice, but then billionaires don’t have to be. They just have to be rich.

Justice was swift, if not certain. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life. No more NBA practices. No more NBA games.

Sort of sounds like a reward more than a punishment.

Why you ask? Because much like a NASCAR race and a baseball season, not much of interest happens until the end of an NBA game. Sure, the last two minutes last forever, but they also encompass all the drama and desperation, the things that make sport interesting. Ditto for NASCAR. Drivers race all day to get in position to do something foolish, then the guy who doesn’t wins.

That’s a lot time wasted getting to the point.

But Sterling owns this franchise, which he now can’t drive around the block. Can’t bring his buds to. Can’t enjoy.

But I bet he isn’t banned from signing the paychecks.

Therein lies the problem.

Now the commish is trying to get other NBA owners to persuade Sterling to sell the Clippers. He may get his way.

Seriously. Who wouldn’t want to sell a team that you can’t watch practice or play? A franchise that will bring in another billion or two? I think they can work something out.

What really puzzles me is: If Sterling feels the way he sounded on the videotape, why would he want to own an NBA team? What, the local KKK softball team was already taken?

Furthermore, if he didn’t like people of color but did like good basketball, why pick the Clippers? Six years ago this team won 19 games total and will never be called the New York Yankees of the NBA.

None of it figures.

Even crazier, even if he believes what he said, why on earth did he say it? In the modern era there is no upside to racism, but a huge plunge on the downside.

The bottom line, I think, is that hatred is a learned trait.

We aren’t born hating unless you count math. And if we could count we probably wouldn’t hate that.

No, hatred and prejudice are acquired tastes. And way too many people like those tastes after they acquire them.

Now, truth be told, I am not totally against dislike in general. There are plenty of unlikable people who give us plenty of reasons for our ill feelings. Race, however, is not among those reasons.

There is a general consensus that racism is a bad thing, so Sterling ‘s remarks are bewildering.

Racism is so universally frowned on that most racists have learned to hide their feelings.

Hey, it doesn’t change hearts and minds, but it’s better than nothing.

But in the society we live in, a growing group of people are not bothering to hide it. Disguise, yes; hide, no.

Things aren’t helped by 24 hours of rhetoric on TV channels and focused websites. Why? Because when people see bad ideas promoted non-stop by “news” outlets, these ideas get a provenance they don’t deserve.

Let’s be clear: No matter how looney you are, you can go to the Internet and find people just as looney who agree with you.

That such people exist does not mean you are right. Or not looney.

This is one case where there may be strength in numbers, but not wisdom.

Anthony Stastny is sports editor of the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at 912-652-0356 or anthony.stastny@savannahnow.com.